End of NAFTA could end plantain production in San Rafael

The possible cancellation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would threaten the commercialization of San Rafael’s plantain production. There would be an overproduction and it would be difficult to sell it all within the country. As a result, producers wouldn’t profit from the commercialization of the fruit, as they wouldn’t be able to earn the foreign currency they currently do.

He said “they wanted to discuss Mexico’s Free Trade Agreement with the United States with the Senators and the Federal Government, mainly with the SAGARPA and with the Ministry of Economy, because producers and exporters would lose a lot of fruit and money if the US border was closed to them.”

He said that the State’s Plantain Council was working to open the Chinese market, and that last year they had toured that Asian country to demonstrate that the Mexican fruit met all of their phytosanitary requirements. Currently, they are waiting for the results of previous tests on the banana production.

He also said that Chinese investors had visited Mexico in late October and early November to observe the quality of the country’s banana production and to determine how to transport the fruit to China. In the end they decided that the most feasible sway to transport the fruit was to ship it by sea.

He said that he hoped they would start sending plantains to the Chinese market this year to help desaturate the national market. He also said the states of Colima, Jalisco, and Chiapas should export the product, as it would be easier for them to export the fruit to that country.

The state of Veracruz would benefit from other states exporting to China. Exporting to China from Veracruz would be very complicated due to its geographical location, which implies higher costs of transportation. San Rafael’s fruit has the quality to be exported, but transport logistics stop producers.

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